10/22/2025
In 1 King 21, God provides us the example of King Ahab, who desired his neighbor’s (Naboth’s) vineyard. Ahab went to Naboth to ask him if he could buy it, however Naboth rejected King Ahab’s offer. So the king became angry and resentful and he complained about it to his wife, Jezebel, who was not a woman of God. She manipulated the situation to have Naboth killed so that her husband could take possession of the vineyard. As soon as King Ahab heard the news of Naboth’s death caused by his own wife’s scheming, he hurried to take the vineyard for himself. He did this completely disobeying God, and disregarding Naboth’s very life, because of his own selfish and envious desires.
When we let a lie grow to the point that we can tell ourselves we will only be happy if we have something, we sin. Like Ahab’s desire, wanting something without asking for God’s will over our own becomes idolatry. King Ahab believed He needed the vineyard to be happy instead of seeking God to fulfill him, and he allowed his desire to become envy, for He wanted what his neighbor had and was willing to see him dead in order to have his desire accomplished. (“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” James 3:16).
It’s ok to desire things. God tells us He is our loving Father who desires to give us good things, however we need to ask Him first and check the attitude of our hearts. Can we be happy if He tells us no? Surrender means being able to feel content and complete and whole and loved and fulfilled by the Lord, even if He doesn’t give us what we want. His desire is for us to experience His love and joy, exclusively because He is the One who satisfies us. If we ever notice that our desire to have things (people, circumstances, material goods) is becoming more important than our contentment in simply trusting and loving our God, we can run to the Father and ask Him to align our hearts with His. He is the only One who can fulfill what we think we want and need and no amount of having what this world has will ever be enough for us like He can be.
